1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a degreasing furnace loading apparatus and a method for manufacturing a honeycomb structure.
2. Discussion of the Background
In recent years, particulates such as soot contained in exhaust gases that are discharged from internal combustion engines of vehicles, such as buses and trucks, and construction machines, have raised serious problems as contaminants harmful to the environment and the human body.
For this reason, various honeycomb filters using honeycomb structural bodies made of porous ceramics, which serve as filters that collect particulates in exhaust gases to purify the exhaust gases, have been proposed.
Conventionally, upon manufacturing such a honeycomb structure, first, a wet mixture is prepared by mixing ceramic powder, a binder and a dispersant solution or the like with one another. Moreover, the wet mixture is continuously extrusion-molded through a die, and the extruded molded body is cut into a predetermined length so that a rectangular pillar-shaped honeycomb molded body is manufactured.
Next, the resulting honeycomb molded body is dried, and predetermined cells are then sealing so that either one of ends of each cell is plugged by the plugging material layer.
The resulting honeycomb molded body that has been sealed is carried in a degreasing furnace, and a degreasing process is performed.
Next, a firing process is performed on the degreased honeycomb molded bodies so that a honeycomb fired body is manufactured.
Thereafter, a sealing material paste is applied to the side faces of the honeycomb fired body, and the honeycomb fired bodies are mutually bonded so that an aggregate of the honeycomb fired bodies in which a number of the honeycomb fired bodies are bound to one another by interposing the sealing material layers (adhesive layers) is manufactured. Next, the resulting aggregate of the honeycomb fired bodies is cut and machined into a predetermined shape, such as a cylindrical shape and an cylindroid column shape, by using a cutting tool or the like so that a honeycomb block is formed, and lastly, a sealing material paste is applied onto the periphery of the honeycomb block to form a sealing material layer (coat layer); thus, the manufacturing processes for the honeycomb structure are completed.
In the present specification, in any of the forms of the honeycomb molded body, honeycomb fired body and honeycomb structure (or honeycomb structured body), among faces forming the external shape, those to which cells are exposed are referred to as “end faces”, and those faces other than the end faces are referred to as “side faces”.
As one of apparatuses that transfer honeycomb fired bodies and the like manufactured in the respective processes of the manufacturing operation of a honeycomb structure to the next process, for example, JP-B 3-035057 has described a mount-type transferring apparatus for honeycomb structural products in which a honeycomb structural product is suction-held onto a porous suction plate having an aperture rate greater than the aperture rate of the aperture end face of the honeycomb structural product, by utilizing a pressure loss exerted when outside air passes through the through holes of the honeycomb structural product, and transferred by a movable arm to which the porous suction plate is attached.
The contents of JP-B 3-035057 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.